In the News

Democratic multibillionaire J.B. Pritzker is rumored to be considering a run in 2018 to become the 43rd governor of Illinois — against the current occupant of that seat, Bruce Rauner (R-IL), who just seeded his re-election committee with $50 million of his own money. Pritzker is the cofounder and managing partner of Pritzker Group, a private investment…

The FEC’s higher contribution limits may be better news for Republicans than Dems: far more contributors maxed out to Romney than Obama. Also, Urban Outfitters’ new CEO leans right, a distinct change from the chain’s last leader.

The STOCK Act already banned insider trading by lawmakers. But as of today, its disclosure provisions kick in: The personal financial disclosure statements of members of the House and Senate, as well as candidates for those offices, are now online.

Erskine Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and political jack-of-all-trades, will join the board of directors of Facebook. Bowles brings a variety of experience to the social media giant, including co-chairing President Barack Obama’s bipartisan deficit commission last year and serving as president of the University of North Carolina system.

Earlier this year, Republicans in both the House and Senate introduced resolutions urging approval of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. At since then, hundreds of companies, unions and trade associations have set their sites on the proposal.

A new report from the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of State slams the tenure of U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Cynthia Stroum, one of the top fund-raisers for President Barack Obama and a prolific Democratic donor. Obama appointed her to the post in 2009.

From January through September, 29 unique groups have lobbied on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay service members, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of federal lobbying reports explicitly mentioning the measure.

SWEET NEW NAME FOR CORN SYRUP?: The agribusiness industry is hoping a name change can help turn around public perception about a sweet-tasting product: high-fructose corn syrup. The Washington-based Corn Refiners Association is asking the Food and Drug Administration for permission to change the name of often vilified sweetener to “corn sugar.”

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